Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0018133 (graft-versus-host disease)
 18,032 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Here, we describe a patient diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia who relapsed after matched unrelated donor SCT. The patient was treated with imatinib mesylate and donor lymphocyte infusions, and achieved a complete molecular remission. Additionally, safety and efficacy of imatinib mesylate in a total of 134 patients from 8 centers who underwent allogeneic or syngeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) and had a relapse of Philadelphia chromosome positive leukemia was reviewed. Data was compiled from abstracts accepted as oral or poster presentations at the ASH (American Society of Hematology) 2001 and EBMT (European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation) 2001 & 2002 meetings and additionally literature published on this patient group. Efficacy of imatinib therapy was assessed by morphology, cytogenetic analysis, and determination of donor chimerism. In the evaluable population, hematologic and cytogenetic responses were observed in 66% and 60% of the patients, respectively. Fifty-one of 114 (45%) patients achieved a complete cytogenetic response. No response or progress of disease was noted in 22 out of evaluable 91 patients. The observation period was limited to a maximum of 28 months. A significant improvement in donor chimerism was frequently observed. Only five cases of significant GVHD were reported. Preliminary results show that imatinib mesylate has the potential to positively influence the ratio of donor and recipient cells without inducing a high incidence of severe GVHD. The data suggest that earlier start of imatinib mesylate prior to hematologic relapse in minimum residual disease (MRD) positive patients is a promising treatment concept.
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PMID:Current results on the use of imatinib mesylate in patients with relapsed Philadelphia chromosome positive leukemia after allogeneic or syngeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. 1452 51

The aim of this study was to investigate if graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) activity conferred by allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) is effective in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) with unmutated V(H) gene status. The kinetics of residual disease (MRD) were measured by quantitative allele-specific immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 9 patients after nonmyeloablative allo-SCT for unmutated CLL. Despite an only modest decrease in the early posttransplantation phase, MRD became undetectable in 7 of 9 patients (78%) from day +100 onwards subsequent to chronic graft-versus-host disease or donor lymphocyte infusions. With a median follow-up of 25 months (range, 14-37 months), these 7 patients remain in continuous clinical and molecular remission. In contrast, PCR negativity was achieved in only 6 of 26 control patients (23%) after autologous SCT for unmutated CLL and it was not durable. Taken together, this study shows for the first time that GVL-mediated immunotherapy might be effective in CLL with unmutated V(H).
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PMID:Graft-versus-leukemia activity may overcome therapeutic resistance of chronic lymphocytic leukemia with unmutated immunoglobulin variable heavy-chain gene status: implications of minimal residual disease measurement with quantitative PCR. 1520 68

To improve the antimyeloma effect of donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) after allogeneic stem cell transplantation in multiple myeloma, we investigated in a phase 1/2 study the effect of low-dose thalidomide (100 mg) followed by DLI in 18 patients with progressive disease or residual disease and prior ineffective DLI after allografting. The overall response rate was 67%, including 22% complete remission. Major toxicity of thalidomide was weakness grade I/II (68%) and peripheral neuropathy grade I/II (28%). Only 2 patients experienced mild grade I acute graft versus host disease (aGvHD) of the skin, while no grades II to IV aGvHD was seen. De novo limited chronic GvHD (cGvHD) was seen in 2 patients (11%). The 2-year estimated overall and progression-free survival were 100% and 84%, respectively. Adoptive immunotherapy with low-dose thalidomide and DLI induces a strong antimyeloma effect with low incidence of graft versus host disease.
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PMID:Low-dose thalidomide and donor lymphocyte infusion as adoptive immunotherapy after allogeneic stem cell transplantation in patients with multiple myeloma. 1529 62

Blood uric acid levels and purine metabolism are affected in many ways after bone marrow transplantation (BMT). Although BMT is usually performed when patients have a low residual disease burden, a proportion of them are still at risk of tumor lysis syndrome, even with limited disease or after nonmyeloablative conditioning regimens; moreover, an alteration in uric acid turnover can also be observed in patients with persistently normal uric acid blood levels. Apart from this obvious complication, multiple physiopathological events occurring after transplantation may derange uric acid homeostasis. Although there is only indirect evidence (derived from obstetric eclampsia and experimental gout arthritis), a transplant-related increase in cytokine production (particularly TNF, IL-1 and IL-6) may activate xanthine oxidase which, in turn, may be responsible for a further cytokine bout: deranged cytokine homeostasis is involved in the pathogenesis of some of the main acute post-BMT complications, such as hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD) and acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD). Hyperuricemia is also a well-known side effect of cyclosporine A, the reference drug for the prevention of post-BMT GVHD, which may affect uric acid turnover by reducing glomerular filtration and/or affecting tubular handling; the available evidence favors the former explanation. Hyperuricemia is found in long-term transplanted patients as part of a metabolic pattern reminiscent of the so-called 'X' or 'metabolic'syndrome related to insulin resistance: there is still no precise interpretation of this post-transplant complication nor any definite data concerning its real incidence and outcome. Hyperuricemia is frequently regarded as a marginal finding in the context of X syndrome, but it is pathogenetically linked to the other component of the syndrome and has proved to be autonomously responsible for tissue and vessel damage. Finally, BMT is a possible therapeutic strategy for some inherited forms of hyperuricemia, particularly Lesch- Nyhan disease, although there is still some perplexity concerning the possibility of preventing the development of neurological impairment.
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PMID:Hyperuricemia and bone marrow transplantation. 1560 10

The impact of disease burden on the outcome of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) has not been well defined. Data from several retrospective series suggest that overt leukemia at the time of transplant increases the risk of relapse. We reviewed the outcomes of 68 consecutive adults with AML (n=60) or myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) (n=8) who received an allogeneic SCT at the University of Chicago between May 1986 and October 2002 to confirm the importance of currently recognized risk factors for overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). In addition, we wanted to determine whether quantification of residual disease by blast percentage or cytogenetic abnormalities at the time of SCT was correlated with outcome. AML subtypes based on the FAB classification were as follows: M0=9, M1=9, M2=16, M3=2, M4=16, M5=3, M6=5. Cytogenetic analysis was available from 52 patients. Using standard morphologic criteria, 34 patients were in complete remission (CR) and 34 had visible leukemia present. The majority of donors were HLA-identical siblings (n=55). In all, 56 patients received myeloablative conditioning regimens and 12 received a reduced-intensity, fludarabine-based conditioning regimen. OS and PFS times were 7.1 months (95% CI, 4.8-10.4) and 5.1 months (95% CI, 3.2-7.8), respectively. Median follow-up from SCT was 4.6 years (range, 0.6-17.0) for survivors. In multivariate analysis, the following factors were found to be associated with worse survival: (1) increased percentage of blasts in the bone marrow at the time of SCT, (2) presence of acute graft-versus-host disease, (3) mismatched donor, (4) Zubrod performance score of >/=2, and (5) age >/=45 years. We also found a trend towards improved outcome among patients in cytogenetic remission as compared to those who had residual cytogenetic abnormalities and those in overt relapse. These data support an association between pre-transplant disease burden and poor outcome after SCT.
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PMID:Impact of disease burden at time of allogeneic stem cell transplantation in adults with acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes. 1580 31

Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is widely accepted as effective therapy for patients with relapsed aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and to a lesser extent, for indolent and mantle cell lymphoma, resulting in prolonged disease-free survival. Despite these advances, disease recurrence remains a problem and a major clinical challenge. Allogeneic transplantation has also been increasingly utilized in patients with relapsed aggressive and indolent lymphoma but is associated with high toxicity and graft-versus-host disease. Recently, nonmyeloablative preparatory regimens have shown encouraging results, attributed to graft-versus-lymphoma effects. Rituximab, a monoclonal antibody targeted against the CD20 antigen, is a potent therapeutic tool with documented efficacy in B-cell lymphomas. It is effective when used alone or in combination with chemotherapy, resulting in a significantly improved response rate compared with chemotherapy alone, in both aggressive and indolent lymphomas. Increasing evidence suggests that rituximab is also effective at in vivo purging prior to transplantation and may prevent relapse by eradication of residual disease when administered after transplantation. This review summarizes the available data on the use of rituximab and discusses the current evidence for its role in conjunction with auto- and allotransplantation.
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PMID:The role of the anti-CD20 antibody rituximab in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. 1600 42

We report the clinical course of a patient who developed a Rhizopus infection of his right lung and pleural cavity, 11 months after receiving a T-cell-depleted, haploidentical donor peripheral blood stem cell transplant. Thoracotomy was performed to remove the pulmonary lesion, but residual disease in the pleural cavity was noted. Treatment with amphotericin B was complicated by the development of severe renal dysfunction, necessitating alternative antifungal therapy. Treatment was initiated with the investigational triazole posaconazole. Despite concurrent treatment with corticosteroids for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), the patient had a complete response and remains well 4 years later.
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PMID:Successful treatment of pulmonary zygomycosis with posaconazole in a recipient of a haploidentical donor stem cell transplant. 1612 83

Graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) effects can be induced in tolerant mixed chimeras prepared with nonmyeloablative conditioning. GVL effects can be amplified by post-grafting donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI). Unfortunately, DLI is frequently associated with graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). We investigated the feasibility of induction of potent GVL effects by DLI using intentionally mismatched lymphocytes followed by elimination of alloreactive donor T cells by cyclophosphamide for prevention of lethal GVHD following induction of very short yet most potent GVL effects. Mice inoculated with B-cell leukemia (BCL1) and mismatched donor lymphocytes were treated 2 weeks later with low-dose or high-dose cyclophosphamide. All mice receiving cyclophosphamide 2 weeks after DLI survived GVHD, and no residual disease was detected by PCR; all control mice receiving DLI alone died of GVHD. Analysis of host (female) and donor (male) DNA showed that cyclophosphamide treatment eradicated most alloreactive donor cells, yet mixed chimerism was converted to full donor chimerism following transient self-limited GVHD. Our working hypothesis suggests that short-term yet effective and safe adoptive immunotherapy of leukemia may be accomplished early post-transplantation using alloreactive donor lymphocytes, with prevention of GVHD by elimination of GVL effector cells.
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PMID:Induction of early post-transplant graft-versus-leukemia effects using intentionally mismatched donor lymphocytes and elimination of alloantigen-primed donor lymphocytes for prevention of graft-versus-host disease. 1626 94

Umbilical cord blood stem cell transplantation (CBSCT) has made significant progress in treatment of lethal congenital or malignant disorders. Both the incidence and severity of GVHD from CBSCT were lower than that from bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cell transplantation, particularly for adult patients, but these advantages were also associated with higher rates of relapse. The immune-mediated effect of natural killer and cytotoxic T cells against residual tumor cells were shown to prevent relapse and to induce remission after bone marrow transplantation. To explore possibility of ex vivo expansion of T, NK and CD34(+) cells from umbilical cord blood, cord blood was expanded ex vivo with different combinations of cytokines, T and NK cells proliferation and differentiation were observed. CB MNCs were separated in Ficoll-Isopaque column and cultured in IMDM for 14 days with different recombinant cytokines. Cultured cells were collected and analyzed for progenitor/stem cell immunophenotyping at day 0, 3, 7, and 14 by using flow cytometry. The results indicated that all test groups cultured with different combinations of SCF, IL-3, IL-6, IL-7, IL-2 showed significant expansion of UCB MNC, compared with the group without cytokines. All test groups showed expansion effects on CD34(+) cells, CD34(+) percentage went up from 1.6% in fresh CB to the highest 11.9% in group D (SCF + IL-3, IL-6, IL-2). The CD34(+) cells peak displayed at day 7 of culture in group A and D, while in other two groups B and C appeared at day 14 of culture. The expansion multiple of CD34(+) cells in all test groups at day 7 of culture were from 10 to 50. The average value of CD3(+) T cell in fresh UCB was 18.7 +/- 4.3%, the CD3(+) T cells decreased sharply in the medium without any interleukin, while obvious increase were observed in the other test groups containing different combinations of cytokines. The maximal expansion multiple of CD3(+) T cells reached 2 times of the fresh UCB level. CD56(+) cells amounted to 3.6 +/- 1.9% of fresh UCB, CD56(+) cell number increased significantly only in medium containing IL-2. It is concluded that T cells, NK cells as well as stem/progenitor cells can be expanded in the same time from CB-MNC with the combinations of cytokines.
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PMID:Ex vivo expansion of T, NK and CD34+ cells from umbilical cord blood. 1640 84

During the past three decades, allogeneic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) has developed from being an experimental therapy in patients with endstage leukemia into a well-established therapy in patients with a range of disorders of the immunohematopoietic system. Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), acute or chronic, attacking host tissue is a major threat. However, donor immunocompetent T cells have a potent graft-versus-leukemia effect. A combination of calcineurin inhibitors and methotrexate is the standard therapy to prevent GVHD. Modulation of the immunosuppressive regimen may induce mild acute and mild chronic GVHD, reduce the risk of relapse, and improve long-term survival. Natural killer cells also play a role in this context. Killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor incompatibility between recipient and donor may reduce the risk of relapse in patients with myeloid leukemia. Relapse of leukemia is a major cause of death after ASCT. Minimal residual disease and recipient leukemia lineage-specific chimerism are sensitive techniques for early detection of leukemic relapse. Donor lymphocyte infusions can enhance the antitumor effect, especially for patients with molecular relapse. The allogeneic graft-versus-cancer effect has been demonstrated in patients with metastatic breast, renal, colorectal, ovarian, prostatic, and pancreatic carcinoma. Mesenchymal stem cells have immunomodulatory properties and may be used for immunomodulation of GVHD and tissue repair. All things considered, the future looks promising for ASCT.
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PMID:Immunotherapy by allogeneic stem cell transplantation. 1741 40


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